


Frames Of Reference

by Lukutoukka



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Fluff, Getting Together, Gratuitous Use Of Definitions, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, Patrice Bergeron Turns Up For A Second, The Dryer Plays A Role
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-21
Updated: 2018-04-21
Packaged: 2019-04-25 19:50:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14385909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lukutoukka/pseuds/Lukutoukka
Summary: The one where repairing the dryer plays an essential role, Dex is from Maine, Chowder would go crazy if everything weren’t happening so quickly and Nursey is super chill (he really isn’t).





	Frames Of Reference

**Author's Note:**

> "Dex is from Maine" the summary says and well, duh, yes. What I mean is: I went and looked up what he would talk like, possibly. Now, I did my best, but I'm not from Maine and my native tongue isn't English, so I apologize for possible mistakes I made. All mine. Feel free to point them out, if you know better than I do. Also, I didn't write it out phonetically, but please when Dex says things like dryer or car, think "dryah" and "cah".
> 
> EDIT (because I'm a forgetful writer, okay?): Please consider [this Check Please! extra](http://checkpleasecomic.com/extras-blog/231) for reference aka It's Dex Repairing The Dryer.

_Frame Of Reference_

_1 : an arbitrary set of axes with reference to which the position or motion of something is described or physical laws are formulated_ _  
_ _2 : a set of ideas, conditions, or assumptions that determine how something will be approached, perceived, or understood_

***

_Weltanschauung = Worldview_

_a comprehensive conception or apprehension of the world especially from a specific standpoint_

***

Dex never questioned his sexuality. He grew up with heterosexuality being the norm and homosexuality happening to other, strange people, so why would he, really? He played hockey, he tinkered with and repaired stuff, he helped out on his uncle’s lobster boat, and kept away from women’s work. That’s just the way it was. There’s men’s work and women’s work and the both of them overlap just a bit. Men love women. He’s a man, so he’s interested in women, right?

He knows of course, that some people are attracted to the same gender and he doesn’t have a problem with that, really. It’s just that it doesn’t apply to anyone he knows and so he never thinks about it. It’s other people, strangers, it doesn’t concern him.

Then he decides to go to Samwell.

And Samwell -

Samwell is far away from home. Maybe not so much geographically - Chowder moved across the whole country, holy shit - but definitely in the thinking that prevails. Suddenly the comments he heard all his life from the people around him get him strange looks. Occasionally, people stop talking to him. He chalks it up to it being the first weeks of college. The whole situation is very fluid really, people getting to know each other, the new place, trying to adapt to the new life.

He doesn’t understand, not at first.

It takes him a bit to get used to Bitty. It’s nothing to do with Bitty, really. It’s just that Bitty is a contradiction in himself for Dex. Leisurely baking, ice dancing, that’s not compatible with hockey, being a man, in Dex’s mind. It’s women’s stuff, isn’t it?

So Bitty’s and Dex’s relationship is a bit strained. But Dex likes Bitty, he really does. It’s confusing, alright? He needs to sort through all this new information, this completely new world view.

Shitty takes him aside some time into the second month and gives him a bunch of literature.

“Work it out for yourself, man. Come to me if you have questions, but for the love of all that is holy, please get your head out of your ass.”

He does. He reads through what Shitty gave him. Not every word, back to back, instead he skims and skips and googles terms and concepts he’s not familiar with and it’s not easy. It turns his whole world upside down, and suddenly the truths he grew up with are no longer true.

He has a talk with Bitty, in which he apologizes and Bitty takes it all in stride. He talks a bit with Shitty and Chowder, but he’s not much of a talker, never was, so mostly he just reads and thinks and thinks and thinks.

It’s not good from one day to another, of course it isn’t, but he tries. It’s confusing and new, and comes on top of all the new stuff that came with college and moving out from home, but he tries and he becomes less of an asshole - if he may say so himself.

After a while, things settle and after he develops a routine - which happened faster than expected, honestly - time goes by so quick, he barely notices. Suddenly, he’s in the second year of his college career, school’s going fine, hockey’s going better and everything would be peachy (well, mostly peachy at least) if it wasn’t for Nursey.

Nursey, whom he clicks with nearly perfectly on the ice.

Nursey, who drives him crazy off the ice, because maybe they’re both stubborn, but Dex educates himself and he tries and what the hell is wrong with Nursey, that he can’t see that? Why can’t they be friends?

Nursey and his tattoo.

Nursey and his goddamn clumsiness off the ice and how can he play hockey the way he does and then stumble over thin air literally the second he leaves the ice?

Nursey and the way his muscles move under his skin, taking off the hockey gear.

Nursey and his fucking five o’clock shadow and his stupid hair and -

Dex thinks and thinks and thinks and his thoughts always return to Nursey.

***

_Attraction_

  
_1 a : the act, process, or power of attracting_  
_b : personal charm_  
_2 : the action or power of drawing forth a response : an attractive quality_  
_3 : a force acting mutually between particles of matter, tending to draw them together, and resisting their separation_ _  
4 : something that attracts or is intended to attract people by appealing to their desires and tastes_

***

It may be cold outside the day Derek Nurse first notices how utterly fucked he is, but it’s hot in the basement, because the furnace is doing strange shit again. It’s a little time into their second year at Samwell, the season started rather good, and for once he feels as if he’s on top of things. Of course, that changes when he walks into the “laundry room” of the Haus. He stumbles over thin air and nearly drops his laundry, aka the reason he came into the basement in the first place.

Dex, of course, is as oblivious as always. He looks up from where he’s kneeling next to the dryer and Derek curses any and all gods responsible for whatever led to this moment.

This moment being Derek running into Dex fiddling with the dryer. Again. He’s wearing his slightly scruffy work pants with the padded knees and so much stuff in the pockets that it makes the pants sit low on Dex’s hips and an old, tattered T-Shirt that looks like it’s been a work shirt since forever. There’s a streak of dirt across his forehead and his hands look like a can of oil exploded over them and honestly, Derek should not be as attracted to Dex as he is right now.

“Hellooo, Earth to Nursey, you okay?”

“I - what?” Dex must’ve been talking to him, but Derek was so distracted by his apparent attraction to William fucking Poindexter that he didn’t even notice the very same William Poindexter chirping him for falling over his own two feet. Not that the chirping is new. Or the falling over his own feet. Only, that’s not really what happened here, was it now?

“It’s chill,” he gets out. (It really isn’t.) “Just need to wash my clothes.”

Dex looks at him for a second, then shrugs and points to the washing machine.

“Help yourself. Feels like it’s the only thing workin’ here at the moment. I just can’t promise a functionin’ dryer.”

Derek can’t help himself. Even though he has absolutely no idea about how a dryer works - other than which buttons to push to start a functioning dryer, that is - while loading his laundry into the washing machine, he asks.

“What’s wrong with it this time?”

Dex shrugs.

“Hard tellin’ not knowin’,” he says. Nursey stares at him. Dex’ accent - which has been getting less pronounced, but is still fairly evident - hasn’t yet stopped being mystifying (fascinating) to Derek. (He doubts it ever will.)

“So… you don’t know what’s wrong with it?”

Dex shoots him the look that Derek always translates as “We know each other since when? And you still don’t understand me? Are you even trying?” but probably means something closer to “Why are you keepin’ me from workin’?”.

“Can’t say for sure yet.”

“I see. Good luck with that, I guess,” Derek says and chooses to execute a strategically planned exit _right now_ (he’s not fleeing, he just needs to talk to Chowder. Very important thing, yes. No fleeing going on here at all). Halfway up the stairs, he hears something clattering, followed by some creative swearing, only half of which he can make sense of.

***

_Come Out_

_intransitive verb_

_1 a : to come into public view : make a public appearance_  
_b : to become evident_  
_2 : to declare oneself especially in public utterance_  
_3 : to turn out in an outcome : end up everything_  
_4 : to make a debut_  
_5 a : to openly declare one's homosexuality_  
_b : to openly declare something about oneself previously kept hidden —often used with as_

***

For the second time this evening, Chris’ door opens after just a courtesy knock. There’s only two people allowed to do this - Nursey and Dex. Chris looks up from his homework, expecting Nursey to be back because he forgot something, but instead there’s Dex, standing just inside the room and Chris gets the distinct feeling of having a déjà vu. Granted, there are some differences: Earlier, it had been Nursey in his room and he’d started talking the literal second he’d opened the door (“I’m so stupid, Chowder. Stupid and fucked. It’s the worst. So you know how…”), he had thrown himself on Chris’ bed, never once stopping talking, until he did (“I fell for the stupid white boy with a Samwell Republican sticker on his laptop. Can you believe it? William Fucking Poindexter.”), staring at the ceiling. And now there’s Dex, quiet and stoic - okay, okay, there really wasn’t anything that should remind Chris of earlier. Except… Except they both had the exact same look on their faces.

Finally, Dex says (still only far enough into Chris’ room that he had been able to close the door behind him): “I think I might be gay.”

Chris is absolutely, completely out of his depth. His frame of reference for situations like these is basically nonexistent - what with this being the first time someone had come to him with a sexuality crisis. He sits up.

“I’m not quite sure what to say, here. Thank you for coming to me?” He gestures around the room, pats on the bed next to him. “Come sit. Do you want to talk?”

Dex sits down right where he stands and sinks into himself, not saying a word, so Chris gets up and sits down next to him, cross-legged like Dex. He bumps his knee into Dex’s and says carefully (because he doesn’t know exactly what’s going on, isn’t sure what it is Dex needs right now, what he should say, only knows that this can’t be easy for Dex, thinks that this is probably one of those situations where one needs to state the obvious):

“You know it’s okay, right? It’s okay if you’re gay and it’s okay if you “only” question your sexuality. It’s okay. It’s okay, and I’m here for you, don’t you forget that.”

Which is the moment Dex chooses - eyes on his fingers that still show traces of oil or dirt or maybe both, like he couldn’t get them clean or maybe only tried to get them clean for a bit before giving up, playing with the hems of his working pants - to say the very last thing Chris was expecting him to say: “It’s Nursey. I’m in love with him.”

***

_Déjà Vu:_

_a : the illusion of remembering scenes and events when experienced for the first time_ _  
_ _b : a feeling that one has seen or heard something before_  

***

After that statement, Chris needs pizza. So does Dex, he thinks.

“Pizza with pepperoni and double chocolate cookies?” he asks, and hopes that Dex understands this as the invitation to stay and talk he intends it to be. Or maybe not talk if Dex so prefers, but spend the evening together, in any case. It’s their go-to order when they get pizza together: A big pepperoni pizza for the two of them together and three double chocolate chip cookies each. Although Chris thinks maybe he should order ten cookies in total today - chocolate is always good. To his relieve, Dex nods and looks up, offers him a slight smile.

“I’d like that,” he says. “I think I might be freaking out a bit.”

Which is, Chris thinks, the most Dex thing ever: the worse something gets, the quieter Dex becomes. He shuts himself away, like after they lost the Frozen Four last year. If you don’t know him, he looks, well, stoic. Like nothing affects him. So when he says something like that, he’s really freaking out.

_(It’s a thing that apparently drives Nursey absolutely crazy. It was part of his tirade earlier._

_“And like, he always looks like nothing really fazes him. Remember after the Frozen Four? He looks sad and totally done for right up until he gets out of the shower. He turns off the water and it’s like something shuts down and all his feelings are like - POOF - shut away behind this façade of “Nothing touches me, nothing at all. Look at me, I’m so okay.” and you can only see how much he actually_ is _hurting by these super small things, like, he’s got that aggressive way of putting on his headphones? I don’t know how he does it, but he can put on his headphones in this way that looks super nonchalant, only there’s this little something that gives him away… What’s with that façade? It’s the_ worst. _” Nursey stops to take a breath._

 _“Brah,” Chowder says and wants to add: “But_ you _are looking through it. You don’t seem to be aware of doing it, but you_ do notice _.”, but before he can say anything, Nursey pushes on: “I know, I know, it’s …”)_

When Chris comes back upstairs with the pizza and cookie delivery, he’s also got cola (from the fridge) and a promise for pie (from Bitty) with him. Dex is now leaning against the bed, arms around his knees and head lying on the mattress, throat on full display. Chris notices that his hands are cleaner than before and can’t help to think how much Nursey would appreciate this sight in front of him (he immediately feels a little strange thinking this, but whatever, it’s true) - if Dex weren’t freaking out the way he his, Chris would deem the whole thing to be totally hilarious.

“Is Pepsi okay?” he asks, and like he hoped, Dex looks up at him and smiles.

“No way! Nothing but Coca-Cola crosses my lips,” he finishes the now legendary conversation they once overheard before an away-game. He takes the pizza and the cookies, so Chris can sit down next to him. With the pizza carton between them, they start eating.

 _(“His hands, man. When he’s repairing something and his hands are like, all dirty? I shouldn’t find that as attractive as I do, should I? And have you seen his arms, Chowder? They’re amazing, man. And his hair! I didn’t even know I liked ginger. It’s so distracting, like, when we get out of morning practice and the light falls_ just so _, it lights up in this shade, I don’t even have words for it...”)_

“Ayuh,” Dex says. They’ve finished their pizza and sat together in silence for a bit, Dex playing with the edge of the carton, Chris waiting for him to say something. “Ayuh.” Then he launches into the longest speech Chris has ever heard from him.

“I think I’ve known for a while now. That I’m in love with him, I mean. But earlier - I was repairin’ the dryer. It’s just a patch job, but it should do for a while, by the way. And Nursey came in to wash his things. He nearly dropped his laundry, because he was stumblin’ over his own feet. Again. That’s not cute, is it? But I thought - I thought it was cunnin’. So he puts his laundry in the washin’ machine and makes some small talk, and then he leaves. Without turnin’ on the washin’ machine. Put the detergent in and everythin’, but didn’t press start. So I did. And I went back to the dryer and I thought “Nursey, you idiot”, only I thought it was just totally Nursey. Wicked cunnin’.” He blushes. “So that’s when I realized. I dropped the wrench into the dryer and everythin’. Was a bitch to get back out.”

Chris offers him a cookie.

_(Chris nearly can’t understand Nursey, the way he got his face buried in the shark Chris keeps next to his pillow. But then Nursey speaks up._

_“I’m so stupid, Chowder. Stupid and fucked. It’s the worst. So you know how I hate the washing machines in the dorms and I always do my laundry here? I just walked into the basement and there’s William fucking Poindexter, repairing the dryer in those work clothes he got. And I thought how nice those pants sit on his hips and how amazing his arms look in that shirt and -”_

“You seem calmer than earlier,” Chris remarks when he grabs his last cookie. Dex, who still has two cookies left, stops chewing, thinks for a second and then nods.

“I think I’m okay. With bein’ in love with Nursey at least. Could be worse, right? He’s wicked cunnin’. Still not sure about the whole gay thing tho.” He looks a bit scared again. Chris isn’t sure it’s because he’s scared of what it’d mean for him to be gay or because of something else. He knocks his shoulders into Dex’.

“It’s okay, you hear me. It’s okay.”

_(“And his accent. I kinda love it.” Nursey is quiet for a bit, then he groans._

_“I’m in love with William freaking Poindexter.”)_

***

_Tranquil_

_1 a : free from agitation of mind or spirit_  
_b : free from disturbance or turmoil_  
_2 : unvarying in aspect : steady, stable_

***

The morning after the dryer incident, Dex’ is at Faber long before anyone else, just to be on the ice. He woke up early and couldn’t go back to sleep. Since there’s few things better to get his head free than being on the ice and driving to the shore is not possible right now, he’s headed to Faber shortly after five a.m., which should give him a lot of time for himself.

He starts out leisurely, but since he’s already there, he decides he might as well skate for real. Jack would’ve been proud. He’s been in the rink for at least 20 minutes, when there’s a voice disrupting the sounds of his skates on the ice.

“You’re here early and you don’t even invite your d-line partner. I am hurt.”

Dex stops near center ice and turns around. It’s Nursey. Because of course it is. Decked out for training like Dex, he steps onto the ice.

“Mind if I join you?” he asks and Dex can only shake his head no.

They’ve been skating quietly for a while, the only sounds their skates on the ice, their breath and the puck being hit and hitting the boards, when they start hearing the others from the dressing room. They communicate with just a look and skate over to the boards, grabbing their water bottles.

“You’ve been here early too,” Dex says and thinks: “Duh. Well done Poindexter, what an incredibly intelligent thing to say.”, but Nursey has this almost smile on his lips that means he’s content.

“Couldn’t sleep anymore,” he says.

Dex hesitates for a second, but then he offers: “I like the sounds when there’s only me on the ice. I think it’s relaxin’.” And because he can basically fell Nursey tense up at that, he adds: “I liked playin’ with you today too. It’s not as … it’s not as much as when everybody’s on the ice and shoutin’ and whatnot.”

Nursey smiles at him, for real now, and Dex can’t help himself and smiles back. He thinks Nursey wants to say something else, but before he gets the chance, Whiskey and Tango turn the corner, loudly discussing the value of a friendship with the LAX bros and the moment is gone.

***

 _Quiet_  
_Verb_

 _transitive verb_  
_1 : to cause to be quiet : calm_  
_2 : to make secure by freeing from dispute or question_  
_intransitive verb_  
_to become quiet —usually used with down_

***

After training, they get breakfast with Chowder, Foxtrott and Whiskey and Tango, who are still, or maybe yet again, discussing the LAX bros. As always, it’s a little rowdy with all of them around a table in the breakfast hall, but Derek feels calm, like he’s in the eye of a storm - calm, surrounded by the wind threatening to tear everything down. But he’s part of the storm, protected by the winds, not threatened by them.

Dex seems to be more calm than usual as well. He’s loudly discussing the last Shark’s game with Chowder, both of them gesturing with forks full of food and using anything they can to model moves they liked and discuss whether or not they could incorporate them into their own game (Derek has to stop them from commandeering his - still full! - glass to represent Tim Heed). But there’s less of the frantic energy he usually radiates. It’s like he’s resting in himself.

Foxtrott turns her sharp gaze onto him. “You okay, Derek? You’re awfully quiet today.” He smiles at her. Of course she’d notice.

“Just a little tired. Didn’t sleep all that well,” he offers as an explanation. It’s true, too. Just not the whole truth. Although if he’s being totally honest, he isn’t entirely sure what exactly the whole truth would be. He’s pretty sure it would include rambles about red hair being hit by the setting sun, and freckled hands streaked with oil, competently fixing one thing or another. Or the fact that he didn’t even notice how much of that he noticed until yesterday. The whole truth would probably also include how well he and Dex work together on the ice, the fact that they don’t even need to talk much at this point about their plays. He might even talk about this morning before training, how the scratching of their blades on the ice, the sound of their sticks hitting the puck was like meditating and how in tune he’d been with Dex all through training. Foxtrott still looks at him like she doesn’t believe him.

“I promise I’m okay,” he says and offers her a smile. She considers this for a moment, then nods and turns back to her scrambled eggs. Derek takes a minute for himself, then he inserts himself into Dex and Chowder’s conversation.

***

_Collision Course_

_a course (as of moving bodies or antithetical philosophies) that will result in collision or conflict if continued unaltered_

***

Derek stops dead just around the corner, his heart beating like crazy, questioning if he really just did that.

Did he really just ask out William Poindexter for coffee? Like on a date. And then he fled before he got an answer (stupid, stupid) when one of Dex’ classmates approached them. Granted, he didn’t phrase it like an invitation to a date, but if one were so inclined, it could certainly be interpreted like just that. Derek leans against the wall and concentrates on breathing.

In. Hold. Out. In. Hold. Out.

Which is when he hears Dex’s classmate ask if they could meet up later that day and go through some of the content of the class - in Derek’s mind the sentence sounds like she wants to do anything but going through class content and he tenses right back up, waiting for Dex’ answer.

“Sorry,” he hears Dex, who doesn’t sound all that sorry, “But I’m right straight out all week. Maybe you can ask someone else for help.”

And Derek’s not proud of this, but he relaxes hearing this. So maybe he won’t go ~~on a date~~ get coffee with Dex, but neither will that strawberry blond girl. He’s just gathered his backpack, when his phone vibrates. His heart starts beating faster again, when he sees his screen.

 **New Message**  
Poindexter:  
“3pm @ Annies?”

Didn’t Dex just say -? And since when does Dex do Annie’s? Derek stares at his phone. Did Dex just agree to the date Derek didn’t invite him on?

He texts Chowder.

Then he stares at his phone for a little while, only minorly freaking out, until he gets a grip on himself.

He texts Dex.

///

Chris’ phone begins vibrating shortly before his first class of the day starts and never really stops again.

 **Nursey** ****  
I think Dex and I are going on a date later today  
What have I done  
I don’t know what to do  
CHOWDER, HELP

Chris is just composing an answer, when he gets a message from Dex.

 **Dex** **  
** I might have just said yes to a date with Nursey

There’s also a wide eyed emoji. Chris sighs and looks at the board. He really needs to pay attention to class.

 **To: Nursey** ****  
!!! **  
** Need 2 pay attention. tell me everything, will answer later!!

 **To: Dex** ****  
shouldnt u be paying attention to class?!  
lunch together?

Then he puts his phone on silent and very resolutely does not look at it again until the end of class.

**57 new messages**

Chris sighs. Dex, at least, only sent two messages.

 **Dex** ****  
who can really concentrate on class when nursey is being nursey  
will pick you up after class

Nursey on the other hand seems to have used the hour he had before his class started to think about every single possibility of interpreting what happened after breakfast. Recounting the events from after breakfast alone takes 15 messages. The rest seem to vary between Nursey questioning whether it’s really a date and wondering what to do if it is, in fact, a date.

Chris takes a deep breath.

 **To: Dex**  
be right out. u here yet?

 **To: Nursey** ****  
Nursey, u got this ****  
have u made it clear that u consider it a date?  
also, be yourself. his problem if he doesnt like it  
but im sure its gonna be just fine

///

Dex’ heart is beating faster than it does during a game. _It’s just coffee_ , he tries to tell himself,  but it hasn’t been _just coffee_ in his mind since he blew off Elle and offered to meet Nursey at Annie’s. He doesn’t do Annie’s. Everybody knows that. Nursey knows that.

He takes a deep breath and leans against the wall next to the door of Annie’s, head tipped back, closing his eyes.

He’s way too early. This is just coffee. It’s probably just coffee and he’s here way early, looking like… Like he’s desperate. And nervous. Which isn’t even wrong. He’s more nervous than ever before. He wasn’t even this nervous when they played the Frozen Four… At least he knew what he was doing then. He knows hockey. He doesn’t know how to date Nursey. Doesn’t even know for sure this is a date at all. Even though Chowder said that it sure sounded a lot like a date. His thoughts begin to go down the exact same paths they went down all day. What are they even going to talk about? Is it going to be weird? What if it isn’t a date? What if it is, and it goes badly? But before he gets any further down that spiral, the sound of someone clearing their throat makes him open his eyes.

Nursey is standing in front of him, a single, red and white rose in his hands.

///

Derek considers throwing the rose away just about every time he passes a bin. (Dex doesn’t do roses, does he?) He almost gives it to the girl from his linguistics class with the green undercut when he meets her halfway to Annie’s. (Dex also doesn’t do Annie’s.) Then he gets to Annie’s, still more than ten minutes early, and he’s glad he kept the rose.

Dex is leaning next to the door, head tipped back, eyes closed. A scarf, but no hat, his hair sticking up as much as it can - he’s going to cut it soon, Derek thinks and is surprised at himself that he knows that. The afternoon sun makes him look softer than usual and his hair very nearly glows. It’s the prettiest sight Derek’s seen in a while and he just takes it all in for a minute, before clearing his throat. Dex opens his eyes, their soft brown almost golden in the sun, and looks at him, takes in the rose. Derek awkwardly offers it to him.

“I didn’t want to leave any doubt about whether or not this is a date,” he says. For a second, Dex just looks at him. Derek’s heart is trying its best to jump out of his chest.

***

_Collision_

_1 : an act or instance of colliding: clash_ _  
_ _2 : an encounter between particles (such as atoms or molecules) resulting in exchange or transformation of energy_

***

Chris isn’t worried when he hears nothing one hour in. He concentrates on homework and thinks that this might actually work out with the least amount of drama in the history of Nursey and Dex ever. He’s almost proud.

Two hours in, he thinks that not hearing anything must be a good sign, because if it had been awkward and bad, both of them would be standing in his room by now. (Talk about awkward.)

Three hours in, he can’t concentrate on his homework anymore. They wouldn’t kill each other, would they? Chris definitely draws a line at getting rid of either of his best friends’ bodies. Then he thinks that maybe it’s going _very well_ , but he stops that line of thought just as quickly, because he really likes them, he does, but that doesn’t mean he needs the mental pictures of the two of them together in bed. Or wherever. He’s emphatically not thinking about it.

Four hours in, he notices that he has no idea what’s happening on the show he’s watching and starts to consider doing stretches. Or running. Or basically anything that means not thinking about dead bodies or his best friends together in bed. His left foot is developing a tick.

Four and a half hours in, he sends both Dex and Nursey a message, asking for an update. He’s migrated to kitchen and his left foot is twitching like it wants to go to Annie’s to check up on Dex and Nursey. He considers it, until it occurs to him that if it went bad, they wouldn’t be at Annie’s any longer and if it went well, he doesn’t actually want to crash their date. They would both have these hurt puppy faces.

Five hours in, he tells Bitty, who breaks out the flour.

Six hours in, Bitty is putting the second stress-baking pie in the oven (the first one went in a little while ago), when Chris’ phone vibrates.

///

Derek feels giddy. Dex fucking _lit up_ when he took the rose and all Derek wants is to forever remember that look. And see that sunshine smile again Dex gave him. Even better: Be the reason Dex smiles the sunshine smile again. He knows he sounds ridiculous but Dex’s smile really was like the sun breaking through the clouds. It made Derek feel warm around his heart. And then Dex had looked at him with these super soft eyes and Derek’s rose in his hands and the smile and the hair and everything and Derek suddenly didn’t want them to run into anyone they knew, didn’t want to share this side of Dex, at least not today, so he said: “Let’s go somewhere else.”

Which is how they end up on their way to Boston, in Dex’ truck, which is probably older than they are, but it started just fine and Derek has a lot of faith in Dex’ repairing skills.

During the drive, they talk about anything and everything and when Dex starts talking about the sea, Nursey knows _exactly_ where they’re going. Well, not exactly the place and all, but he knows what to search for in Google Maps.

Thanks to the wonders that is 21st century tech, they find parking that won’t make them poor, and then Derek basically drags Dex to the waterfront. It’s the best idea he’s ever had, he decides looking at Dex, who holds his nose into the breeze and looks at ease in a way he otherwise only does when he steps on the ice. Only on the ice he usually has this determination that’s missing here and suddenly Derek wants to visit Dex’ home, wants to see him at the shore, not in the middle of the city. But right now they’re here and Derek pulls his hat over his ears and continues to look at Dex who has the whole wind-swept ruggedness down to a T and looks right back at him, with the same soft look he had earlier.

///

Dex isn’t entirely sure how or why, but Nursey said “Let’s go somewhere else.” and now they’re in Boston, at the waterfront and Nursey looks at him in a way that makes Dex’ heart ache and his fingers twitch: He wants to cradle Nursey’s face in his hands and pull that stupid hat lower like Nursey just did and he wants to kiss him. And because Nursey brought him a rose to tell him that this is a date and then proceeded to take him to Boston (even though technically Dex drove them to Boston), he steps closer to Nursey and lifts his hands to Nursey’s cheeks, his rough fingers lying partly on soft, dark skin, partly on the five o’clock shadow Nursey’s already sporting. Nursey grabs his lapels and tugs him even closer, then leaves his hands right there, splayed on Dex’ chest.

He likes the contrast of his hands on Nursey’s darker skin - for once they don’t seem to be milky white. He allows himself to just look for a bit, Nursey at first looking back at him with his dark brown eyes, wide and soft under those thick lashes, before he closes his eyes. For the first time, he notices the freckles that are scattered on Nursey’s cheekbones.

“Can I kiss you?”

///

Derek has to close his eyes. Dex is looking at him like he wants to catalogue every single detail of Derek’s face and he’s not sure he can deal. So he closes his eyes and concentrates on Dex’ calloused hands on his face, grounds himself through the feeling of the heartbeat he can feel under his own hands, even through Dex’ jacket, and Dex’ breathing. Steady and strong.

Dex’ thumbs trace along his cheekbones.

“Can I kiss you?”

Derek opens his eyes again.

///

It’s closing in on 6pm and they’re walking along the waterfront. Dex doesn’t know if they have a destination or maybe they’ll just keep walking until they run out of waterfront to walk along. They’ve talked a lot during the afternoon, but right now, they’re quiet. Dex might be a little bit dazed by the events of the day - not that he would ever admit such a thing. His hand in Nursey’s (or Nursey’s hand in his?) feels amazing and he can’t stop looking at Nursey. He’s allowed to look all he wants now. He even gets to touch. And kiss. It’s amazing. Dex likes it a lot. It’s also possible he’s grinning like an idiot, but at the moment he doesn’t give a single fuck. Nursey’s grinning right back at him, so at least Dex isn’t the only idiot around.

All of which explains why he doesn’t pay a whole lot of attention to his surroundings and literally runs into someone. Nursey snickers a little, but Dex starts apologizing profusely - being run into by a hockey player can’t be fun, even if said hockey player is only playing college league and was walking at a rather sedate pace - when the guy he ran into turns around. He didn’t budge when Dex ran into him; they’re about the same height and weight, Dex notices, and then he notices the face and fuck, he knows that face. He abruptly stops apologising and stares.

“Holy shit,” he breathes. Nursey is a little slower on the uptake, but after looking at Dex, the guy he ran into, back at Dex, then back at -

“Patrice Bergeron,” Nursey says. Dex thinks _Patrice Bergeron!!!_ and continues to say nothing. “I have to apologise for my boyfriend.” Dex stops breathing.

///

Derek hears himself say “I have to apologise for my boyfriend.” and he thinks _“Uh-oh”_ at the exact moment he feels Dex’ pulse jump where their thumbs are joined. For a long second, nothing happens, but then Dex is leaning - ever so slightly - into him and Nursey barrels on.

“This is Dex. He’s a big fan. I’m pretty sure you’re like, at least half the reason he made it into college hockey. Which is great, because otherwise I wouldn’t have met him…”

Five minutes later they wrap up the actual, real conversation they managed to have with Patrice Bergeron, Nursey donates a page from his scrapbook so that Dex can get an autograph (he gets a whole note) and they’ve got a picture (okay, okay, several pictures) with Patrice Bergeron, most of which feature Dex looking incredulous. They walk along the edge of the water a bit, until Dex breaks the silence.

“Patrice Bergeron is technically the second person I’m out to, what with me never formally comin’ out to you.” He grins at Nursey, then adds: “I’m not sure Chowder will ever forgive us that he wasn’t the first person we told about our relationship.” Nursey loses the tension in his shoulders he wasn’t aware he’d been carrying until it’s gone.

“I’m sure he’ll forgive us when he hears it was because you were so star-struck you literally stopped talking in the middle of a word.” He barely manages to evade the elbow Dex tries to shove into his rips, but he laughs and takes off running into the direction he thinks the diner was that Patrice Bergeron recommended. Based on the shout he hears from behind him, Dex isn’t far behind him.

***

 _Quiet_ _  
_ _Adjective_

 _1 a : marked by little or no motion or activity: calm_  
_b : gentle, easygoing_  
_c : not interfered with_  
_d : enjoyed in peace and relaxation_  
_2 a : free from noise or uproar: still_  
_b : unobtrusive, conservative_ _  
_ 3: secluded

***

It’s a week after their first date and Dex is yet again early on the ice, practising penalty shots. He’s just collecting the pucks from the goal, when Nursey’s voice makes him look up. He smiles and lets the pucks be pucks.

“You’re here early,” Nursey says and steps onto the ice, wearing pads and gloves and carrying his hockey stick, but no helmet. Not that Dex is wearing a helmet either.

“I invited my D-line partner, but he’s lettin’ me wait,” he says, slowly skating towards Nursey, who smiles back.

“I’m here to meet my boyfriend,” he answers. “I hope we won’t be underfoot.”

“I don’t think that’s goin’ to be a problem,” Dex says and then he reaches for Nursey, pulls him close with one hand. It’s awkward for a moment, figuring themselves out, what with both of them wearing pads and carrying their sticks, but then they’re kissing, slow and sweet.

Nursey softly knocks their noses together, before pulling back a bit, smiling.

“Hey there.”

Dex smiles back.

“Hi.”

**Author's Note:**

> Come visit me on [tumblr](http://vanillivilovesreus.tumblr.com/)!


End file.
